Without Meaning
by Nekonance
Summary: If you fail, there are always consequences...and for Tsukasa, it goes as both a blessing and curse...
1. A Lone Candle Burning

**Year 2120**

For those many players still traversing the tangled game dubbed, "The World", and for those who exist only in the real world, the danger has passed. The fatal spell passed over the few players who dare go against the will of the virus was dispersed, and they were finally awoken from the near death comas of which they had been cast into long ago. But there was a legend in this itself, of one player that had never awoken...she was the first victim of the comatose bind of The World, and within a year from the accident her body finally ceased to function from that state. She had died within a dream; which was a fate not one person could ever imagine...

And yet, there were rumors that she was still alive, and a member of the billions still logged into The World, at least a century after the death of this single person was announced. Though the times have changed, the game has not...it never rested, never ceased to exist from the high standards it had set. It was revolutionary, and the longest existing MMORPG...but why? Why did the refuse to shut down the inner workings of a virtual world, to cease its activity, and finally let loose of the hold it had taken on the real world outside? Why? The answer is simple.

For one chanced to be wandering the slick, stone encased pathways of the water capital Mac Anu, the legend still holds true in its name. Trotting steadily down these worn and smooth walkways the river's path takes a sudden sharp turn left, and following its bend, you come across the form of merely a teenager on the edge, never moving as if bound there by invisible chains, eyes of a brilliant amethyst gazing sorrowfully out into the jeweled waters. His outfit is strangely medieval, compared to the more flashy clothing available to the new age, a forlorn setting of various beiges and browns, torn and frayed at the edges.

Silver hued hair drops limply into his eyes, whisps of it falling to the back of his neck from the cap perched in an almost cheerful way on the messily taken care of strands. For someone his age, the stranger was oddly gaunt, and pale, the crimson boomerang marks engraved on both cheeks contrasting deeply with the pale tones that almost rivaled the snowy locks covering his eyes. Beside him lay a smooth, curved staff, a crimson jewel embedded between the two prongs that rose in a graceful scorpion arch at the staff's head. A wavemaster? You had never seen one before except in pictures. Those classes were gone, now, and impossible to obtain without permission from the administrators. It wasn't possible...

And yet, it's easy to tell this is no glitch in the system or a trick of your eyes. As your echoing footsteps draw closer to the figure, he regards you with a slight nod, though those lamented eyes never avert from the shimmering surface of the river in which he was staring at intensely, as a cat would, stalking its prey in the shadows. They held the same longing; the hunger for something, or someone out of reach... Returning the gesture with a faint, polite smile, you take the hint to drop onto the cool stone at the wavemaster's side. He is silent for a moment, then speaks up, in a dull voice creased by years of an empty misery.

"I can't believe this is what Fate led me to...they are all gone. The world I once knew is gone. Everyone I knew...they have left, and I've lost what little soul I had left, trapped in this nightmare world...a game, nothing more. Though imagination can become reality...don't you agree?" he echoed, mimicking the words of a long lost friend. Finally a violet and troubled gaze shifts to your face. Unsure of his meaning, you do not answer, and he continues, in the same monotonous voice. "They tried as hard as they could, and yet, I'm still trapped...how long has it been?" Pause. Then... "...maybe...maybe I was trapped here all along, and didn't know it...maybe I am not being played like a pawn in a game...maybe this is Hell." The shadow of a grin briefly flickers on his features before fading into a solemn expression. You begin to get nervous, unsettled, to be sure, with a violent, fighting urge to run as far away as you could from him. It was that strange aura that surrounded him, as if to ward off any intruder that came nearby. And...this kid sounded mad. There was a soft, almost inaudible plea for help in those words spoken. It wasn't the ramblings of the insane...but what could he mean?

For a moment, the wavemaster just gazes steadily at you in silence. Studying. Yet after a moment he quickly shifts his soft purple gaze again, a faintly uneasy expression infiltrating the gentle and childlike one from before as he appeared to realize he had been staring. Shifting position as to rest one hand on the staff, he traces one finger along it quietly, before speaking again, surprising you. Once again, his tone has changed, replaced by sarcasm; though the mask is clear. The sorrow was too much to hold back in his words. "Do you know how long I have been here?"

Your answer is a light shake of the head. "Since 2010." A grim smile forms on his face at your reaction; a small gasp, not stifled in the least at the shock produced at his answer. "I suppose..." he continues solemnly, "I can't ignore reality. All my friends-the ones that tried to help me, I mean...they're probably dead, now. They were the closest to solving the case, and then lost it all...and since I live in The World, I can never die...Immortality is truly a curse." His laugh was hollow. Lifting the staff to place it across both legs, eyes traveling over it fondly, his silence chances you to speak up. And you do. "So...you're the legendary Tsukasa? The one who...who..." Unable to say it, you wait for the wavemaster's reaction.

Surprisingly, he does nothing but continue to observe the rod in his hands. A long, drawn out sigh emits from his throat after a moment. "Yeah...I guess I'm dead after all. Not much of a secret, now is it?" Tsukasa pauses to glance again at the beautiful waters of Mac Anu, which were broken in by small ripples from water bugs skimming the glass-like surface. "And here, I haven't aged a day...which is no surprise, of course. But..." A faint glimmer of liquid reflects in those alluring amethyst hued eyes, "...I just want to leave now...the horror of a ludicrous world outside is _nothing _compared to this..." Unbidden, the smooth metal of the staff is flecked with the path of a tear falling, smoothly dropping out of sight.

"This...this truly is Hell..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

^^ *waves sheepishly* Hihi! Its Nekonance here…so…there's for my first fic! nn' I dunno if I'm adding onto it or not, like a sequel…x.x' I know there's prolly a whole lotta mistakes and really stupid sounding sentences in there, so bear with me! Thanks!


	2. StickyNote

Hey all! It's been a long time! ^_^ I'd like to apologize for this being another author's note. But you know what? I had to, since I'm here to apologize for forgetting about this fic!! x__X Believe me, I'm ready to strangle myself at the moment for making you wait. But school's been evil, I have a REALLY short term memory, and well...I'm extremely prone to writer's block, as I said. So...yes, I'm updating to remind any faithful readers that I AM going to try and put up another chapter, so one of you doesn't decide to go to my house and capture my brother (Hey, that's not a bad idea! You can have 'em! =P) or something. Okay?  
  
Oh, and not to mention the next chapter won't be as detailed or incredibly confusing =3 I try not to do that when I'm adding detail; but as you can see, I'm not so good in preventing it, either. To answer a question...Tsukasa's stuck in there because Mimiru and the others did not find out the mystery, and instead kept going over the mystery until their real lives took over and they were forced to leave the game and his fate behind. I suppose it's kind of an AU, if that's the case, but its only the ending that's different.

The next chapter's going to be from a REAL someone's POV! En't it amazing? Yeah...that was like really confusing for me, too. What was it; third person? First person? 1 and a half person? O.o I truly have no idea. I think it was second person...but anyways, thanks again if you are reading this! I'm off to hang myself now. But don't worry, I'm SURE ghosts can write!  
  


Least I'm pretty sure...

-Nekonance__


End file.
